Ever since the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce created a Political Action Committee- or PAC- last year to challenge certain members of the school board, it has not sat well with many in the county.
The Williamson Business Political Action Committee, as it is called, was formed to hopefully shake up the school board. However, it came to light that the PAC and Williamson, Inc. (the county-funded chamber of commerce) had some unseemly close ties. Such as sharing a mailing address and having the PAC board of directors selected by the Williamson Inc. chamber executive committee.. Also, Matt Largen, Williamson, Inc. CEO, was heavily involved in the PAC’s fundraising.
As commissioner Barbara Sturgeon wrote about the PAC:
It is a fact that when any entity [Williamson, Inc.] receives 30-50 % of its entire budget from a third party, that third party has the ability to influence what they do, including the PAC they established. It is not appropriate for our local established government to have the potential to leverage a PAC that will influence our local elections, whether it chooses to do so or not. Obviously, taxpayers may or may not agree with the political agenda that is promoted by such leverage.
Should something like the chamber, which is so closely associated with the county, be involved in politics? Legally, a PAC is an independent institution formed for the purpose of supporting (or actively not supporting) a certain politician or idea. It is a funnel for donations, and has been used as a way around campaign finance laws, nationally. (Remember Swift Boat Veterans Against Kerry in 2004? That was the work of a so-called Super-PAC, which can raise pretty much unlimited funds. PACs limit individual contributions, usually to $5,000 per person, and can only give so much to a certain candidate. For a way more in-depth explanation of the legal history of PACs, this is a good link. )
Now, the PAC in question was formed to (hopefully) influence the School Board elections this coming August. The PAC chairman, Dennis Norvet, accused school board members of failing to embrace diversity, engaging in too many heated debates and generating bad publicity. Norvet and the PAC haven’t really added specifics to these charges. Publicly, they say that things like superintendent Dr. Mike Looney openly courting a job with Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. last year created too much drama. Drama, they say, that was bad for business, literally, in that upheaval and instability- or the appearance of it- would scare off potential businesses looking to locate to Williamson County.
What it looks like, in appearance, is that the chamber would prefer to have undue influence upon the school board. They want candidates who support the ideas the business community will support. So, in effect it is not so much improper influence that is sought as they want to be sure whoever is on the school board is a known entity. Ideally, for the chamber, it is a known entity whose platform and ideas it approves of. There is nothing wrong with that desire. Of course we all want a business friendly environment in Williamson County. And there is nothing wrong with a PAC supporting that. It is part of the democratic process that makes our country great. The problem is that when things start getting too cozy, when the government itself starts getting involved, directly or indirectly, in funding an entity that is funding an ad and marketing campaign for an elected seat, things can start to snowball. It is the proverbial slippery slope.
So at the March County Commission meeting, commissioner Todd Kaestner proposed a resolution to withhold county funding from the Chamber unless the PAC was dissolved. This is what Sturgeon was writing in support of, to give context to the quote above.
Instead, at the last minute, Kaestner agreed to pull the resolution because the PAC sent a memo to the county agreeing to certain changes to the relationship between the PAC and the chamber.
A concerned citizen said it best, when at the commission meeting he said that the Chamber and the PAC were separate only in name. Really this is about legal wrangling. PACs first came about, really, as a way for a candidate to spend more money from more people without the sort of strict oversight that comes with campaign finance laws. Even though a PAC is legally its own entity and its funding is separate from any candidate or institution, it is not always in practice separate or its own entity.
So in the memo the PAC agreed to make the following changes:
-Change mailing address and phone number.
-Williamson Inc. CEO will not be involved in fundraising for the PAC.
-The PAC board will vote to change by-laws to eliminate the board of director of Williamson Inc.’s ability to appoint PAC board members on March 18.
-The PAC and Williamson Inc. will not have accounting services from the same firm by May 15.
-Williamson Inc. will not be involved in day-to-day operations of the PAC, including website maintenance, press releases and PAC filings by May 15.
Now, these changes do not necessarily mean that anything in practice will change about how the PAC relates to the Chamber. It is not hard to make wishes known in this information age after all. It just fixes a glaring, glaring issue of perception.
The people of Williamson County, those people of the perpetually low voter turnout, will have the final say. And all indicators say the people are highly educated and highly motivated, good, caring. They will vote for whom they believe is the person who will do their best on the school board to put the needs of education, and the students, first.
The bottom line is that the PAC might have the best interests of the good of all, and the good of the schools and students, in mind. But the reason conflicts of interest like this have to be watched, and eliminated, is because of the chance the PAC might not.
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